Method of inclosing objects in regenerated cellulose



March "2, 1937. J. H. GRADY El AL METHOD o2, mhosine OBJECTS IN REGENERATED cELwLosE Original Filed March 2:5, 1934 e Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS:

Ja/mr MGR/m March 2, 1937. J. H. GRADY sr'ju. 2,072,330

METHOD OF INCLOSING OBJECTS IN REGENERATED CELLULOS E Ofiginal Filed Maf'ch 25, 1934 6 Shets-Sht 2 III I INVENTOR$ I do luv/l. Gm: as, Joan W 64 Afl/rE,

March 2, 1937. J. H. GRADY El u f 2,072,330

METHOD OF INCLQSING OBJECTS IN REGENERATED QELLULOSE I I Original Filejd March 25, 1934 e sheets-sheets INVENTORS. K Jail/VA GRYADY, Joan/Mam,

W%EL I I J. H. GRADY ET AL METHOD OF IHCLOSING OBJECTS IN REGENERATED CELLULOSE March 2, 1937.

Original Filed maicnzs, 1934 e Sheets-Sheet 4 March 2, 1937. J. H. GRADY ET AL 2,072,330

' METHOD OF 'INCLOSING OBJECTS IN REGENERATED CELLULOSE I original Filed March 25, 1934 e Sheets-Sheet 5 iv a' f I INVENTOR$= v 4 I doll 1H. Gnn o v, J05 {Pl/W 61,4445,

March 2, 1937. J. H. GRADY ET AL 2,072,330

METHOD OF INGLOSING OBJECTS IN REGENERATED CELLULOSE Original Filed March2 3f1934 I 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Fig J1 v INVENTORS" Ja/m/ bf 6mm), Jaspw W 64 Afi/(E, BY

UNITED STATES PATEN Patented Mar. 2, 1 937 ME'rnon or mcnosnvc onmc'rs m an GENERATED CELLULOSE John H. Grady and Joseph W. Clarke, St. Louis, Mo... assignors to J. H. Grady Manufacturing Company, St. Louis, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Original application March 23, 1934, Serial No.

r OFFICE 717,004. Divided and this-application June 5,

1935, Serial No. 25,082

or inclosing objects in sheet regenerated cellulose, or similar material. This process may be performed by the apparatus for carrying out or practicing the said method shown in the accompanying drawings. Among the articles that may be thus inclosed are baseballs, other play balls, fruits, eggs, and rectangular articles, and numerous other things, such, for instance, as a plurality of golf balls thus wrapped as an oblong package or a plurality of match packets wrapped in one package.

It has been found in actual practice that covering articles by hand with the material mentioned is slow. and tedious and does not result in as neat and good-looking a package as is produced by this invention.

The problem and difficulty in inclosing objects with the said material arises partly from their shape, but chiefly from the nature of the material, as that material cannot be shaped and retained in shape unless moist, but it dries so speedily as to be hard to handle, especially so to manipulate it as to form a close-fitting sheath or wrapper, and this is particularly true in-regard to a sphere or aspheroid or an ovoid or anything else having a curvilinear surface or contour. After a shape or form has been imparted to the saidmaterial in a moist condition by the present invention, it retains it and, in addition, remains a snug-fitting envelop for the article to which it has been applied. I

At the meeting-place of the opposite edgesot the piece or blank of such material after its application to the ball or the like, a strip thereof may be pasted on by moisture or otherwise, forming a permanent or durable joint, and, if the said strip is of a different color from the envelop, its 45 addition to the ball orthe like may be either the distinguishing mark of the manufacturer or dealer or a decoration that makes a dressy package. The wrapper herein described is not applied for the purpose of defiatingor compressing the 0 ball or its internal contents, but for the purposes for-which a wrapper is'ordinarily used i. e., to keep what is inclosed clean and new-looking and to give it an attractive and distinctive commercial appearance and/also,- in this case, to exclude the air. 7 g

3 Claims. .(01. 93-2) Other points of invention will hereinai appear.

In the drawings, wherein like numbers of reference refer to like parts wherever they appear,

Fig. 1 is a. front elevation.

Fig. 2 is a. side elevation.

Fig. .3 is a plan view.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale of a part of the apparatus that regulates the flow of air into the air-chambers. a

Fig. 5 is a sectional view 'on an enlarged scale of another part that regulates the flow of air into the air-chambers. V r Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional view on the line B6 in Fig. 3. J

Fig. 7 is a sectional view on the line 1-1 in Fig. 6.

I Fig. 8 is a sectional view on the line 8-8 in- Fig. 11 is a plan view of the blank to be used in covering the object.

Fig. 12 is a side elevation thereof.

Fig. 13 is an elevational or plan view covered object.

Fig. 14 is a similar view of the object covered and trimmed, and a Fig. 15 is a plan view, showing the diaphragm turned upward to receive a piece of the wrapping material for moistening.

Each air-chamber l is provided with a cover or diaphragm 2 of rubber or other elastic material. held in place by bands 3 and 4. This may be thin or thicker, depending upon the nature or shape of the object to be covered. Preferably, a wellknown type of rubber, such as used by dentists of the in making dental dams and characterized by.

, object is being covered. Rods 9 cause vertical movement of air-chambers I.

The valve I0 is held in place by a brace l I, and a stop l2 prevents the center part 13 of valve Ill from turning completely around. Fittings it connect the valve l0 and tubes I.

The object to be covered I5 is placed in a partially-hollowed receptacle or cup l6, which is fastened to plate H, which is securely attached to bars l6, which bars l8 rest on a metal plate l9 while the object I5 is being covered.

Bolt 20 passes through a metal plate 2| and the table 22 on which the upper part of the apparatus rests. Bolt 2|] holds brace securely in place and, also, acts as an axis allowing bars l8 to swing forward.'

Wooden blocks 23 and 24 are fastened to the under side of table 22 and support the bottom part of the machine.

Sleeves 25 allow rods 9 to slide freely, and

collars 26 prevent rods 9 from rising too high.

Brackets 21 support pulleys 28. One end of each cable 29 is fastened to a wooden block 30, which is secured to a rod 9 and passes over the top of a pulley 28,- the other end of cable 29 being attached to a weight 3|, which thereby holds its rod 9 to the proper height.

One end of rubber tube 32 connects with valve I 4, and its other end connects with a tank of compressed air (not shown in the drawings) or any other suitable source of air-pressure.

Levers 33 connect levers 34 with treadles 35, pivoted to supports 36, attached to frame 31, and actuate bars 38 to cause rods 9 to be moved vertically downward when pressure is applied to the said treadles 35. Weights 3|, adjustably connected at 39 to the cables 29, cause the return of rods 9 to initial position when the treadles are released. Plates 40 secure rods '9 to the upper part of the apparatus.

Tube 1 communicates with tube 4|, which passes through a collar 42 and part 43 and collar 44, and is fastened securely to part 45, which is fixed to air-chamber I.

The handle 46 on part I3 is used to turn part l3 to the right or left, thereby causing ports 41 and 48 in part II to be in direct alignment with passages 49, 50, and 5| in part I 3. Escape port 52 allows the air remaining in the air-chamber I after the object l5 has been covered to exit. Thus a three-way cock is provided. The passage 53 through tube 4| leads from the airchamber to tube g A set-screw 54 holds tube 4| securely in place, and set-screw 55 binds collars 42 and 44 securely to rod 9, so as to prevent part 43 from sliding forward or backward. Bolts 56 secure plate 40 to part 43. The stops 51 strike against stops 58 and prevent tube 4| from making a complete rotation.

In covering or inclosing objects IS with the above-mentioned material in the use and practice of this invention, a quantity of prepared blanks or the like 59 of the said material in dry sheet form or the like is located adjacent to the hand of the operator, who first puts an object |5 in the cup l6 and then places a blank 59 on the diaphragm 2 in one of the machines, while the said diaphragm is turned upward, and while in that position moisture is applied to the surface of the wrapping material away from diaphragm 2. The air-chamber carrying diaphragm 2, and moistened wrapper 59, is then rotated on its axis 4| from the position shown in Figure 15 and as shown in transit in dotted lines in Figure 1 until diaphragm 2 is above the object I5, and presses the moistened wrapper 59 on the object |5 with its moistened side next to the object l5. Blank 59 ispreferably laid concentrically on diaphragm 2. Moisture on the contacting face of the wrapper causes the same to adhere to other objects, particularly to other similar wrapping material, when pressed thereagainst so as to exclude air. The blanks 59 are of such a size that when spread over the upper part of the object I 5 in cup I6 the blank will pass slightly beyond the middle of the object IS. The wrapper is thin, notwithstanding the reference to it herein as a blank, and, under pressure, when moist readily conforms to the shape of the article |5 on which it is placed and impressed.

The operator next depresses the treadle 35, which by intermediate parts draws rod 9 downward, carrying with it air-chamber I, so as to cause diaphragm 2 to contact with the object l5 and thereby pressing the same against the object 5 with theblank 59 of moistened wrapper between them, whereby the wrapper is forced into close contact with the upper part of the surface of the object l5 and is thereby caused to take its shape and. to adhere thereto. The object I5 is, of course, convex or otherwise protuberant, and the shape of the pressed wrapper is concave or otherwise cup-like.

Compressed air is admitted into the air-chamher by moving handle 46 when the object I5 is thus pressed against diaphragm 2, and the air-pressure causes diaphragm 2 to fit snugly against the object I 5, thus forcing out any air bubbles or the like between the wrapper and the object I5. The wraper being moist adheres and clings to the object l5 upon such forcing out of air bubbles and likewise assumes its shape. Quickly drying, it retains that shape, as well as remaining in close contact approximating adherence to the object I 5. As shown in Figure 13, the blank 59 is preferably of such a size as to cover a little more than one-half of the surface of object l5, this being from the top, as shown in Figure 10, when the object I5 is in cup l6. After the blank 59 has thus been applied to the object l5, handle 46 is turned in the opposite direction, and by means of the three-way cook the compressed air exhausts from air-chamber When the object I 5 has been thus half covered, the treadle 35 is released, the weight 3| returns air-chamber to its initial position, which removes diaphragm 2 from contact with object l5, and this allows removal of it from cup IS. The shape of the cup l6 may be varied to suit the contour of the object to be covered.

The object I5 is then turned over (placed upside down) and put in cup IS in the adjoining mechanism, where a blank 59 of moistened wrapper is similarly applied to the other half of object I 5 in overlapping relation to the first applied blank, by the same kind of operations of the second diaphragm 2, the second air-chamber the second treadle 35, its rod 9, air-pressure, etc. The said second blank 59 of wrapper preferably slightly overlaps the one first applied. The article emerges in the form shown in Figure 13, covered with two hollow hemispheres of the said wrapping material. The said operations on the adjoining mechanism can be performed on the first, but for larger production are preferably performed on a second machine.

The joint between the two pieces of wrapper 59 thus applied is preferably bound or covered by a strip 60, of the same or similar material, which is preferably of a different color for its decorative and distinguishing effect. If desired, the two disks may be of different colors from each other. The finished product, with the strip 60 attached, is shown in Figure 14. The strip 60 of material is first moistened and then pressed in any desired manner upon the wrapper already in place inclosing or covering the object IS. The strip ill completely encircles the covered object l5, and encloses the overlapping portions and their adjacent edges of the covering blanks.

The pair of machines herein shown and described may be increased to any multiple of either, with the object of augmenting production. The foot-treadles may be substituted by power or other means of actuation, andthe particular construction of the means for forcing the object to be covered into contact with the elastic diaphragm may be altered, and many minor changes may be made in the construction, form, order, andarrangement of parts of the machine and steps of the process without departing from the spirit of this invention or the scope of the following claims.

The blank 59 as shown in the drawings is oil a shape that enables it to fit over a curvilinear object, but will be adapted to different shapes. In the case of a sphere, such, for instance, as a baseball, it will be circular, as shown in Figures 11 and 12. An oblong package, as, for instance,

' of a plurality of golf balls, match packets, or

other articles, will require a different shape of blank 59. In the case where a plurality of arclaim and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is? bulges upward, while also being in close contact with the sides aswell as thetop of the object to be covered.

Steam or other fluid pressure may be tuted for air-pressure.

Having thus described this invention, what we substi- 3. 1. The herein-described method 01. covering objects with sheet regenerated cellulose or the' like, consisting of selecting a blank 0! suitable shape and size of the said material to enclose more than half of the object to be covered, moistening the blank, laying its moist side upon the object to be covered, applyi elastic pressure thereto throughout its entire area to press any existingair from between the blank and object,

applying a similar moistened blank to the up- I posite side of the-object in overlapping relation to the first blank, and'applying pressure to the second blank in the same manner as to the first blank.

2. The herein-described method of covering objects with sheet regenerated cellulose or the like, consisting of selecting complementary blanks of suitable size and shape to overlap each other when applied to opposite sides of an object to be covered, moistening said blanks on one side thereof, positioning the blanks successively on opposite sides of the object with their moist sides in-contact with the object, and applying pressure to the entire areaof each blank coin- 1 cidentally with the positioning thereof to remove any existing air from beneath the same.

3. The herein-described method of covering objects with sheet regenerated cellulose or the like, consisting of selecting complementary blanks of suitable size and shape to overlap each other when applied to opposite sides of an object to be covered, moistening said blanks on one side thereof, positioning the blanks successively on opposite sides of the object with their moist sides in contact with the object, applying pressure to the entire area of each blank coincidentally with the positioning thereof to remove any existing air from beneath the same, and applying a binderstrip in encircling relation to the object and in enclosing relation to the overlapping portions and adjacent edges of said blanks.

JOHN H. GRADY. JOSEPH w. CLARKE. 

